Looking Out For You
by Bladam-Shevine
Summary: Stan knew about Kyle's illness. Kyle Broflovski had epilepsy and though he had it under control with his medication, he also knew about the certain triggers that could set off a seizure. Flashing lights, stress, lack of sleep, alcohol… All things that were bound to be present at a party, but of course the two friends couldn't turn down one of Craig Tucker's raging bangers.


Kyle took another sip of the warm cup of coffee clasped between his two hands.

"You shouldn't be drinking that." The first sentence that escaped his best friend, Stan Marsh's, mouth in almost an hour. Stan and Kyle were sitting together in Kyle's room, studying for finals as Stan sat cross-legged on the carpeted floor and Kyle sat at his desk, trying to focus on the words that sprawled across the pages of his textbook.

Kyle shrugged his shoulders. "My doctor said one cup a day is fine."

Stan sighed. "But that's like your third, isn't it?"

Kyle rolled his eyes and placed the coffee mug on the desk beside him. He spun the chair around to face the raven-haired boy, who gave up his attention to his studies and instead was watching the red-head intensely.

"Would you stop being so overprotective?" Kyle asked the other boy, who smiled in return.

"Whatever, dude, do what you want." Stan then closed the book in his lap and pulled out his phone. He was surprised to have received a text from Craig Tucker.

 _Craig:_

 _Hey Stan! I'm throwing a huge pre-finals banger tonight! You and Kyle should come!_

Stan put the phone down and turned his attention back to Kyle. "Feel like going to a party at Craig's tonight?"

"Nah dude, I've got way too much studying today… I gotta keep my grades up for college applications." The Jewish boy didn't even avert his eyes from the page in front of him as he spoke.

"C'mon Kyle. It'll be fun. You need to loosen up! A bit of fun will be good for you!"

Kyle sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I don't know. I have a bit of a headache…"

Stan groaned. "You're so boring."

"Hey! I am not boring! I just don't like parties and you know that!"

And it was true. Stan did know that. Stan knew about Kyle's illness. Kyle Broflovski had epilepsy and though he had it under control with his medication, he also knew about the certain triggers that could set off a seizure. Flashing lights, stress, lack of sleep, alcohol… All things that were bound to be present at a party. But they'd gone to parties before and Kyle had been fine the whole night. He just had to be careful, that's all.

Kyle shut the large textbook and slid it into the drawer of his desk. "I guess you're right, Stan. Studying this much is doing nothing but stressing me out. I guess we can go to Craig's for a couple hours."

Stan grinned and grabbed his coat off the bed. "Awesome! Let's go!"

The two boys headed down the stairs, only to run into Kyle's mom at the bottom of the stairs.

"Where are you going, Kyle?" The red-headed woman asked.

"We're just going over to Craig's house to study." Kyle lied.

"Oh. Well don't be out late. Did you take your medication today?"

Kyle rolled his eyes. He hated his mom prodding him about his medication. "Yes mom."

"Alright bubbeh, have fun and study hard!"

Sheila then proceeded to kiss her son on the forehead as he and Kyle made their way out the front door. When they were out of sight from the Broflovski house, Kyle reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small bottle of pills. "I didn't want to tell my mom but I completely forgot to take my meds today. I've been so busy studying. Dude remind me to take them when we get there, okay?"

Stan nodded, "Yeah of course, dude!"

Kyle smiled and put the bottle back in his pocket and continued to walk the few blocks over to Craig's house. When the boys finally made it to the Tucker residence, they were surprised to be greeted by a very drunk Kenny McCormick sitting alone on the front step, a cigarette in his hand. The blonde boy looked up and smiled at the presence of his two friends.

"Hey guys! Wassssup!" He slurred.

Stan and Kyle laughed as Kenny fumbled with the lighter in his hand. The two teens walked forward to their intoxicated friend. Kenny protested as Stan took the cigarette from the blonde boy's hand.

"These things will kill you Kenny." Stan said as he threw it to the ground.

Kenny groaned. "I only smoke when I'm drunk."

Stan rolled his eyes and grabbed Kenny's arm. "Whatever, Ken. Let's get you inside."

Kyle grabbed Kenny's other arm and the two boys led their inebriated friend inside of the Tucker house. They laid him down on the nearest couch next to Clyde and Bebe, who were too busy making out to notice the added presence in the room.

"Stan! Kyle! You made it!" The voice of Craig greeted the boys. Craig walked towards the new arrivals, his boyfriend Tweek was almost as drunk as Kenny and was hanging onto his raven-haired boyfriend's arms.

"H-hey guys." Tweek stuttered.

"Hey Tweek, hey Craig." Stan and Kyle said simultaneously.

"Help yourself to some snacks. There's also plenty of booze to go around." Craig smiled and then dragged his boyfriend out of the living room, presumably to find a bedroom.

Stan watched the two lovers head upstairs, but his attention was drawn away to the sound of Kyle sighing. "Alright Stan. You dragged me over here, but I'm not having fun yet."

"Alright, Kyle, let's go find the beer." He said to his friend, heading towards the kitchen. Kyle stopped him. "I can't drink, dude."

Stan felt a pain in his heart at those words. _Right. Kyle can't drink because of his illness. Well there were other ways they could have fun._

"Well… Let's go to the basement. I think that's where Craig keeps his foosball table." Stan said, taking Kyle by the hand and dragging him downstairs. The boys found a large number of teenagers down in the dimly-lit room, most of them playing a game of beer pong in the center.

"Butters you fucking faggot! Stop cheating!" That was the familiar voice of Eric Cartman.

"I-I'm not cheating Eric!"

Stan laughed at the two idiots, who both clearly sucked at the game. He looked around the room to see the foosball table, currently unused in the corner of the large room. Stan walked over to it, followed by Kyle who took a place on either side. They started playing, ignoring the sounds of drunken idiots surrounding them. Stan was in the lead, having scored several shots on his opponent's net. "Dude, you suck at this today. You're usually the one who beats me."

Kyle frowned. "I know. I'm just not feeling great."

Stan stopped playing. "What do you mean? What's wrong?"

Kyle shrugged. "I don't know… I have a pounding headache and everything just seems kinda blurry…"

Stan listened to his friends when a sudden realization hit him. _Kyle didn't take his medication._

"Shit! Kyle, I think you should go sit down." But before the red-headed boy had a chance to move himself to a safer spot, he fell to the floor, his body shaking and head thumping against the hardwood floor.

Stan was by his friend's side in an instant; trying to think back to the first aid he had been taught. He had only seen Kyle have a seizure twice in their many years of friendship. Once, at a sleepover when they were 10, thankfully Kyle's parents were there to handle the situation. The second time was at school in the ninth grade, and that time there were teachers there to help his friend. But this time, Stan was alone. He knew what to do; he had taken several first aid classes within his scouts group and educated himself on epilepsy just in case something like this ever happened. And Stan didn't think it would ever happen. He didn't think he'd ever have to help Kyle through one of his seizures without the help of anyone else.

Stan's thoughts were interrupted by several gasps from across the room.

"Holy Shit!"

"What's wrong with Kyle?"

"Is he okay?"

Stan looked up to find a crowd a gathered around him. "N-No guys. Stay back. Give him some room." Stan was slowly calming down, and decided to take control of the situation, rather than panic and risk further harm to Kyle. He turned around and asked Token to grab him a jacket. Token obliged and quickly hurried away, only to return with a light brown sweater. Stan took it from the boy and folded it, gently placing it under Kyle's head to lessen the risk of a head injury. Immediately after doing this, he took out his phone from his back pocket and hit the stopwatch, beginning to time the seizure.

"Should we call 911?" Asked Token.

"Only if it lasts over five minutes." Stan replied, thinking back to his first aid course.

Stan held his breath as he watched his best friend shake on the floor and it seemed like hours passed before his movement finally slowed down and came to a halt. Stan stopped the timer, and rolled Kyle onto his side, into a recovery position.

"What the hell was that?" He heard Craig ask, who had probably came downstairs to see what the commotion was.

"Kyle is epileptic. He had a seizure. He'll be okay though, but I think you guys should go upstairs. I don't want him to be startled when he wakes up."

The group nodded in agreement and Stan watched as the room full of teenagers made their way up the stairs. He was especially surprised to see the worried expression on Cartman's face, something he was not expecting from the boy who proclaimed to hate the Jewish boy.

Stan turned his attention back to Kyle, who was beginning to sluggishly open his eyes. He moaned in pain as his eyes fixated on his friend.

"S-stan?" He slurred.

"Hey dude. You just had a seizure about 3 minutes ago. Don't be scared that you're on the floor."

Kyle's face turned red. "Did everyone see?"

"Only a couple people, but it's okay. They were only worried about you."

Kyle sighed. "I forgot to take my medication."

Stan frowned. "No dude, it was my fault. I was supposed to remind you."

"It's not your fault, Stan." Kyle reassured him, but Stan still felt guilty. _If I didn't forget to remind him, this wouldn't have happened._

"Do you feel okay, Kyle? I think you might have hit your head when you fell."

Kyle nodded. "I feel fine. Don't worry. I just need to go home and rest."

"Do you want to try and sit up?"

Kyle nodded once more and Stan helped the boy to sit up on the floor. He couldn't help but scan his eyes over Kyle's body to check for any injuries, and he was thankful that he didn't see any. Stan startled at the sound of Kenny's voice suddenly appearing behind the two friends.

"I just heard what happened! Kyle are you okay?"

Kyle smiled at his other friend. "Yeah Ken, I'm fine."

"I'm going to call your mom to pick us up, okay Kyle?"

Kyle groaned. "She's going to kill me for lying to her about my meds."

"She'll forgive you; she'll probably just be worried. Kenny, stay he with Kyle while I go call his mom." Kenny nodded at the instructions and kneeled down beside his friend.

Stan made his way to the other side of the room and dialed the number to Kyle's house.

" _Hello?"_ Answered the familiar loud voice of Sheila Broflovski.

" _Hello Mrs. Broflovski, it's Stan."_

" _Stan! Why are you calling? What's wrong? Where's Kyle?"_

" _Everything is fine, Mrs. Broflovski. But Kyle just had a seizure a few minutes ago. He's awake and talking, but I think you should come pick him up."_

" _Oh my poor bubbeh! I'll be there in 5 minutes!"_ The woman didn't even bother saying goodbye, she just quickly hung up the phone, probably anxious to come and see her son.

Stan walked back over to Kyle and Kenny. "Kenny, will you help me get Kyle upstairs?"

"I can walk by myself, Stan."

Kenny and Stan frowned. "Are you sure?"

Kyle nodded and began to slowly stand up. His legs were shaking, but he managed to cross the room and make his way up the stairs, Stan and Kenny following closely behind in case he fell. Thankfully, he didn't and made it up the stairs without an issue. The three boys exited the house, trying not to draw any attention to themselves, though they could feel several pairs of eyes following them.

They made it out the front door just as a car was pulling up to the house. Gerald and Sheila Broflovski exited the vehicle and ran towards their son, embracing him.

"Kyle! Are you alright?" His father asked.

Kyle nodded. "Yeah dad I'm fine."

"In that case, young man we're going to have a serious talk about you lying to me about your medication." Kyle looked down the ground, in shame.

"C'mon, son, let's get you home." Gerald said, guiding his son to the back seat of the car.

"Stan, thank you for helping Kyle and calling us. You did the right thing." Sheila said, hugging the raven-haired teen.

Stan smiled at the woman as she got into the passenger seat, and the car drove off.

"Kyle's lucky to have you, Stan." Kenny said to his friend.

Stan smiled. "I know. But I still feel like this is my fault."

"What do you mean?" Kenny asked.

"Kyle asked me to remind him to take his medication when he got here. But I completely forgot. It's my fault for even dragging him to this stupid party."

Kenny punched Stan in the shoulder.

"Ow! Kenny what the hell was that for?"

"For being an idiot! You can't blame yourself for Kyle having a seizure! Even if you did forget to remind him to take his pills, it was just an accident, Stan. Accidents happen."

Stan slightly smiled. "I guess you're right."

Kenny beamed. "I think I need another drink. Wanna join me?"

Stan shook his head. "Nah. I just need to go home after what happened. But I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright. Bye Stan. And stop being so hard on yourself!"

Stan grinned as he began to walk the short distance home. The only thing stopping himself from blaming his forgetfulness for Kyle's seizure was the realization that if he hadn't been there, by his friend's side, Kyle's condition could be a lot worse. Stan was thankful that he took the time to educate himself on epilepsy and seizures and that he was there for his friend, knowing exactly what to do.

Kenny was right, Kyle was lucky to have him.


End file.
